Transforming adversity

One of the most important lessons that guides, mentors and teachers can offer students is how to understand that ‘failure’ can be a good thing.

No one likes to fail but so-called failures carry substantial information about performance and provide the opportunity to become a great learner.

If you view your learning as a life-long path you may already know how to turn such adversity to your advantage. It is easier said than done, but if you can take those ‘negative’ experiences and use them as powerful learning experiences you will find yourself catapulted forward in your realizations and personal growth.

In this step you re-evaluate past beliefs and experiences which you previously understood one way (typically as negative or harmful) and now understand another way (typically, as positive or beneficial). To ‘re-frame’ you think about adverse conditions, failures and mistakes in a way that helps you continue learning.

In the words of meditation master Kelsang Gyatso:

“Our problems are opportunities to observe and contemplate the law of actions and their effects. They are opportunities to contemplate suffering and its causes, and to practice patience and joyful perseverance.”[1] (my italics)

Dr. Jacqueline Leighton mentions an interesting case of transforming adversities:

In her book Basic Black Cathie Black tells the story of decisions she made in the wake of the collapse of her marriage. She decided she needed a change in environment. Even though she had a great career at Ms. Magazine in New York City, she decided to take a job in San Francisco for a new magazine being unveiled by Francis Ford Coppola. She carefully studied the move and the plans for the new magazine. Everything seemed right. She uprooted herself, moved all of her belongings and established herself in San Francisco. Three months later the magazine failed. She went back to Ms. Magazine.

When asked some time later whether she thought the move to San Francisco had been a mistake she replied that it had not been a mistake at all. She had made valuable contacts while in San Francisco and she was able to negotiate a better job when she returned to New York City. The moral of this story is that she could have berated herself for taking a risk but instead she recognized that failure was part of pursuing her passion, and substantially advanced her understanding of the world of publishing.

I once told a friend, who happens to be a Buddhist monk, all about the collapse of my own marriage in the early 1990s. I described the horrendous decision, the anguish it caused for all around me, and the long litigious fight over money.

He responded, “How wonderful!”

At first I laughed, amused by this young monk’s audacity and then, upon reflection realized that this experience really was ‘wonderful’, because of the catalytic positive effect it had in my life. That experience helped me generate the motivation and engage in all the activities I have outlined here.

-David Luke, Senior Consultant at FocusFit (2007) Inc.

© 2011 D. G. Luke and FocusFit (2007) Inc.

[1] Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune

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